MASS READINGS AND COMMENTARY | JUNE 11, 2020

In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
And a large number of people was added to the Lord.
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch.
For a whole year they met with the Church
and taught a large number of people,
and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.

Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.

R. (see 2b)  The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church

6 While not being formally identified with them, catechesis is built on a certain number of elements of the Church’s pastoral mission which have a catechetical aspect, that prepare for catechesis, or spring from it. They are: the initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary preaching to arouse faith; examination of the reasons for belief; experience of Christian living; celebration of the sacraments; integration into the ecclesial community; and apostolic and missionary witness.

THURSDAY, JUNE 11^TH Mt. 5: 20-26 “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

• Do you want to go to Heaven? Or do you want to go to Hell? No one ever says they want to go to hell! And in today’s secular world where immorality seems to be the norm, where it’s institutionalized in law, likely no one thinks they’re going to hell, if they even believe in it!
• Jesus makes it clear that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, we will not enter the Kingdom of heaven – and there is only one other place to go! In point of fact, Jesus talks more about the fires of Gehenna (hell) than about heaven in the Scriptures. Why? He wants us to believe hell exists and He doesn’t want us to go there!
• The choice is ours. God doesn’t send anyone to hell, we send ourselves! We choose one or the other by how we live our life on earth. Either a place of indescribable beauty, peace, love, and joy for all eternity OR a place of eternal fire, indescribable suffering, hatred, and blasphemies, tormented by demons and convicted by our own conscience!
• This is Our Lord’s message in the Gospel today. Those who forgive others and reconcile will have bliss… those who refuse to forgive and reconcile will have blisters! If it is not possible or not safe to forgive and reconcile with someone in person, we must forgive and reconcile with them sincerely in our heart; the Lord who can read our most hidden desires and intentions will know.
• For men this is impossible… for God all things are possible! Jesus came to earth as Savior! Even the Apostles questioned Jesus. Peter asked Him, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, ‘”I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Mt. 18:21-22) Bible scholars agree, what Jesus meant by seventy-seven times is limitless times, in other words, always!! How can we hope to do this in our human weakness?
• The Lord floods our soul with grace in Baptism and sustains us on our journey to heaven through the Sacraments, the teachings of His holy Church under the guidance of our Holy Father and good priests, our Blessed Mother Mary, our guardian angel, and all the angels and saints in Heaven!
• Indeed, St. Paul points out that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  (Heb. 12:1-3)
• The Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, in particular, speed us on our way to heaven if we receive them frequently and fervently! In Confession, Jesus forgives our sins, even our failure to forgive! But it is not enough simply to confess our lack of forgiveness, we still have to forgive and reconcile with that person! This is called making reparation for our sins. If we break a neighbor’s window we have to apologize, but we also have to replace the window!
• The good news is that this great Sacrament also confers the grace to forgive and reconcile with our brother and sister – that is to say, with everyone, for God is Creator and Father of all! Jesus shows us mercy first by lavishing His mercy on us in the Sacrament of Confession, restoring and deepening our friendship with Him!
• Holy Communion is an extension of Jesus’ Mercy. He gives us His own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us on the journey to our heavenly home. However, even more important, by partaking of Holy Communion we are sharing in the Divine life and love of the Blessed Trinity! When we receive Holy Communion worthily we receive a spiritual heart transplant – we receive the Heart of Christ! We also put on the mind of Christ! Saint Paul says, “We have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor 2:16) We become one with the Blessed Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• Finally, it is important to remember that no one can say or do anything to us that the Lord has not ordained from all eternity for our salvation, our purification, and our perfection! All is within His Divine Providence. We have only to submit to His will in holy obedience each day and in every circumstance, to stay on the course that leads us straight to the Heart of Jesus and heaven!
• It is His will that we be saved! It is His will that we spend all eternity with Him in the peace and joy of the Holy Trinity, our Blessed Mother, and all the Angels and Saints! All we have to do is will it – He’ll do the rest!
• Every day and in every circumstance, I have a choice. His stairway to Heaven or my highway to hell? Which will it be? My way? Or His way?
• “God’s heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to forsake our human certainties, to trust in Him and, by following His example, to make ourselves a gift of unbounded love.”  (Pope Benedict XVI)  

CALL TO HOLINESS   By St. Louis de Montfort

Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, God wants you to become holy like Him in this life, and glorious like Him in the next. 

It is certain that growth in the holiness of God is your vocation. All your thoughts, words, actions, everything you suffer or undertake must lead you toward that end.  Otherwise you are resisting God in not doing the work for which He created you and for which He is even now keeping you in being. 

What a marvelous transformation is possible! Dust into light, uncleanness into purity, sinfulness into holiness, creature being taken up into Creator! A marvelous work, I repeat, so difficult in itself, and even impossible for a mere creature to bring about, for only God can accomplish it by giving His grace abundantly and in an extraordinary manner. The very creation of the universe is not as great an achievement as this.

Chosen soul, how will you bring this about? What steps will you take to reach the high level to which God is calling you? The means of holiness and salvation are known to everybody, since they are found in the Gospel; the masters of the spiritual life have explained them; the Saints have practiced them and shown how essential they are for those who wish to be saved and attain perfection. These means are: sincere humility, unceasing prayer, complete self-denial, abandonment to Divine Providence, and obedience to the will of God.